The invention relates to shopping carts, and more particularly to a shopping cart attachable to a wheelchair for use by disable persons.
Most shopping carts found in stores are for person able to walk and push the carts around the store. Some stores provide a scooter or motorized type cart that a person may ride. There is a small basket on the front. The use of these cars requires that the person is able to move around and mount the cart. Persons in wheelchairs may not be able to move from the wheelchair to the motorized cart.
There have been some carts that attached to the back of the wheel chair. This is an inconvenient in that the person may not be able to reach the cart behind the wheelchair. Such a system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,528.
A shopping cart attachable to a wheelchair is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,601. The cart is attached to the frame of the wheelchair below the arm rest on one side of the wheelchair. The one side connection between the cart and the wheelchair does not appear to provide a stable connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,755 describes a cart attachable to a wheelchair. The cart is securely attached to the wheelchair armrest supports on both sides of the wheelchair. This method of attachment prevents a person from entering or leaving the wheelchair while the cart is attached.
The invention is a shopping cart that is securely attachable to the foot rest supports of a wheel chair in a manner allowing a person to enter and depart the wheelchair while the cart is attached. Two attachable arms that are moveable horizontally and vertically attached to the each foot rest support in a low position. The horizontally and vertically movement of the attachable arms permit the cart to be attached to different wheelchairs. The attachable arms have ends that are easily attached and detached from the foot rest supports. In one embodiment, the attachment arms have a U-shaped end that fits around the foot rest support and is held in place by a strap, the ends of which may be secured by any one of buckles, snaps and hook and loop fasteners.